Storyful Is Acquired by News Corp

News Corp snapped up Storyful, which mines social media avenues like Twitter and Instagram to source, verify and distribute user-generated and viral news.

Storyful’s mission is to identify breaking and viral news — particularly photos and video — and make sure that the content is authentic. Editors will look for signs that a photo of a natural disaster, for example, is current and not from years past.

The company also will reach out to people who post photos and video to obtain access so that news organizations can use them. As Storyful has grown, and the amount of news flowing on Twitter and the like has grown with it, the company has branched deeper into analytics, dashboards and discovery.

News Corp paid $25 million for the Dublin-based digital start-up. It was the first acquisition for News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, since it separated from the media conglomerate that included the Fox film and television businesses. Storyful will remain a standalone business based in Dublin.

“Storyful has become the village square for valuable video, using journalistic sensibility, integrity and creativity to find, authenticate and commercialise user-generated content,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “Through this acquisition, we can extend the village square across borders, languages and platforms.”